Callsign: Phoenix
by PHO3N1XSLAY3R
Summary: Phoenix is a powerful warrior and commander in an elite military. With his friends Butch and Molly at his side, Phoenix will face an unknown enemy who wants to destroy everything Phoenix holds dear. This is where Phoenix's story begins... Rated M due to violence, language, and possible lemons.
1. Prologue

_**Callsign: Phoenix**_

 **Prologue**

Standing alone on the once raging battlefield was a young man. He was tall with a muscular build that showed despite the damaged armor and helmet he wore. As he takes what's left of his helmet off, we see he has black hair and brown eyes. His face has a scar running across his left eye and another one that goes from under his right eye down to his jaw. This man is Commander Dunn, but on the battlefield, he's recognized by his callsign, Phoenix.

After he removed his helmet, he blinked a few times waiting for his eyes to adjust to the unfiltered light and air. His helmet had was designed to allow his vision to remain clear while he fought by removing obstructions from his view such as flashes of light or clouds of dust. Once he could see, he noticed something. Smoke. That's all Phoenix could see. So much smoke. All caused by the raging fires around him. It was starting to bug him, but he was the reason for all this smoke and fire. His battle had caused all of this. As he stood there among the smoke and raging fires, he began to smell something. It wasn't smoke. No, it was a much worse smell. One that he had unfortunately gotten used to due to the many battles he's been in over the past years. Death. The smell of death hung heavily in the air.

Phoenix slowly began to take in his surroundings. Here he stood, among hundreds of bodies. He took in the bodies of his allies, enemies, and the innocent people that got caught up in his battle. Looking around, he couldn't help but think about what a waste of life this battle had been. It hadn't accomplished anything. It had only spilled more blood. "I'm done with this. I'm done fighting this endless war" he spoke. He was alone. There wasn't any life around him. There was only death and destruction for miles on end. This whole time, he couldn't feel anything. He wasn't sure if it was the adrenaline rushing through him or the fact that he was so exhausted after the battle. He didn't really care and only knew he was just beginning to be able to feel his body again. The problem was that as the feeling returned, all he could feel at the moment was the pain coming from his abdomen. Phoenix placed his hand on his abdomen and then looked at it. His hand was covered in blood. From the looks of the wound and the amount of blood, Phoenix knew that he didn't have long before he passed out.

Phoenix looked at his gauntlet and activated a communicator. He waited a moment, and someone answered. "This is Command. Go ahead Phoenix." A voice rang. "This is Phoenix. The battle is over. I need pick up." "One moment," the voice said. Phoenix could hear other voices in the background. It sounded pretty chaotic there. After a few moments, the voice said, "Roger that Phoenix. How many are with you?" Phoenix looked around at all the bodies and sighed before saying "It's just me. I'm the only one left." The communicator went silent, a large difference from the craziness he had heard moments ago. All the people yelling, and all the chaos had just stopped. "Can you repeat your last transmission, Phoenix?" the voice said. Phoenix went to repeat himself but choked up. The memories of the past battle surged again, filling his mind with sadness. 'They're all dead. They all died because I was too weak. I was too weak to save them.' he thought. When he could finally speak, he said "I'm the only one who survived. Everyone else is dead. I wasn't able to save any of them." As he said this, he hung his head in shame. 'Why? Why did this have to happen? Why wasn't I strong enough to save any of them?' Then he heard the voice sigh and say "Pick up is enroute. ETA 10 minutes." Phoenix knew he would pass out from blood loss before they arrived. He looked down at his arm and a holographic display appeared. He activated his distress beacon so they would know where he was, and let the tiredness and blood loss take over and passed out.

 *****some time later*****

When Phoenix woke up, the first thing he noticed was the bright white walls of the infirmary. He had gotten used to them being the first thing he saw when he woke up over the past years. Noticing he was all patched up, he got up and exited out into the hallway. He started passing people who just stared at him as he walked by. Who could blame them. Phoenix was six feet tall, decked out in armor. His armor was black, the type of black that makes it seem like light is being consumed by it. All over the armor was crimson markings, almost like tattoos. On the back of the armor was a crimson colored phoenix. His helmet had a crimson visor that made it seem like you were staring into the eyes of a demon, which along with his ruthlessness in battle earned him the name, "The Demon Phoenix." As he walked, he could hear people whispering. Whispering about how scary he looked. Whispering about how he lost his entire battalion. Along with the whispering, he noticed some people glaring at him. They were glaring because he was someone who was known for being unable to be controlled and therefore was a potential threat. Phoenix got tired of this and headed to the command center.

When he went in, he noticed that all the other commanders were gathered there. He nodded to a few of the ones he recognized from past battles. "Matthew!" Phoenix looked around. It wasn't often that someone called him by his actual name. He finally caught sight of one of the few friends he had here. Walking towards him was his best friend and brother in arms Commander Butch Dune. Butch was a tall young man with dirty blonde hair and bright green eyes, which stood out against the white officer uniform he was wearing. "Butch, what are you doing here? I thought you were stationed on Sigma 9?" Phoenix asked. "Yeah, I was until all of the top ranking commanders received orders to return to headquarters. It came from the General himself, so it must be important," said Butch.

As Phoenix looked around, he noticed that most of the people here were the powerhouses of their military. For some reason, he started to feel uneasy. But he soon forgot about that uneasiness when he heard a woman's voice behind him. He turned around to see another one of his friends, Commander Molly Hopkins. Molly was about two inches shorter than him. She was wearing her armor too. It looked kind of like his, except her armor was crimson with black markings and her helmet had an onyx visor and horns. That's what got her the name "Devil's Daughter." "Hello Matthew. Butch." she said. "Hey Molly," Phoenix and Butch said together. Phoenix turned his head. That feeling was back and was growing. Right as he was about to say something about it, there was a rumble which shook the floor. Everyone in the room started murmuring about the rumble when a sudden bright light filled the room. An explosion filled Phoenix's ears. Phoenix couldn't see anything. His mind was racing trying to figure out what happened. Where was Molly? Where was Butch? What happened to everyone? Phoenix tried to move but no luck. 'Why can't I move?' he thought. He noticed he was getting sleepy and the more he struggled, the sleepier he got. The last thing he heard before he fell asleep was a deep, gravelly voice saying, "Looks like you were weaker than I thought, Demon Phoenix."


	2. Where It All Began

**Hello and welcome to the next chapter of** _ **Callsign: Phoenix**_ **!**

 **Sorry for such a long time between chapters. I've had a lot of stuff going on.**

 **So, this chapter took some time to write mainly because there were so many ways that I could take the story after the end of the Prologue. I ended up coming down to two options. 1. I could make this chapter about the voice heard by Phoenix at the end of the last chapter. 2. Go with my other idea and make you wait to find out about the voice.**

 **I'm obviously not going to spoil the chapter by telling you which option I chose.**

 **Notes like this ***words*** in the middle indicate a time skip.**

 **Notes like this ***words*** of to the side indicate a change in location.**

 **I'd like to make a note of one thing. Phoenix wasn't always who he is. Before he got that callsign, he was just a now soldier. Remember that because it will help some things make sense.**

 **AND ONTO THE STORY!**

 *****2 Years Earlier*****

The planet Hoyt appears to be a dead planet due to the horrible weather conditions and poisonous atmosphere. The planet's surface is dried up. The people who use to live there now long gone. There are abandoned structures everywhere. There is one structure that isn't abandoned however. It is a V-shaped military base that is black and red. This base is the staging ground for the mission the people inside were sent on. In the command center of the base, we find Commander Matthew Dunn with two other people. These people are Captain Gabe Butchers and Sergeant Taylor Summers.

Commander Dunn is a tall, young man with a muscular build. His hair is jet black, standing out against his light skin. His eyes are a hazy brown and always seem to be filled with determination. He has a couple of scars on his face. One scar runs across his left eye, while the other goes from underneath his right eye all the way down to his jaw. He is wearing black combat pants and a crimson long sleeve combat shirt. On top of his shirt, he is wearing a heavy black ballistic vest. Around his waist he has a tactical belt, which has several compartments for carrying equipment.

Captain Butchers is a middle-aged man with a tall and somewhat muscular build. He has snow white hair and dark blue eyes, which stand out against his dark skin. He is wearing an outfit like Commander Dunn's except he has a white short sleeve combat shirt and gray combat pants on.

Sergeant Summers is a tall, young woman with a slight muscular build. Her light skin makes her raven hair and dark green eyes stand out. She is wearing a crimson combat shirt and crimson combat pants. On top of that, she has a black tactical vest and pads on her knees and elbows. Her outfit is built more for speed and agility rather than protection.

"Alright, let's go over the mission one last time." Matthew says as he looks around the holographic projection. "We're here to locate and extract a supposed weapon that could turn the tide of the war in our favor." "Do we know what the supposed weapon looks like?" Taylor asks, curious as to what kind of weapon would be here. "Unfortunately, no." Matthew says as he looks at Taylor. "All we know is that it's located in this area." Matthew says as he points to a location on the holographic projection. The location looks to be an ancient temple surrounded by mountains. "Gabe, you'll be in command of Gray Team and will oversee the explosives," Matthew says as he looks at Gabe. Matthew turns to Taylor and says, "You'll be in command of Red Team and will be in charge of transportation." "I will be taking my team. We'll be in charge of the weapons extraction." Matthew says. "We move out in one hour, so gather your men and gear."

***One Hour Later***

"Alright, are we ready to move out?" Commander Dunn asks the troops. "Yes sir!" the men shout in unison. "Sgt Summers, where's our ride?" Dunn asks. "Right over there." Summers says as she points to three black aircraft across the hanger.

The aircraft Summers pointed to where B478 transports. The base of the aircraft was big and bulky, with three extended legs holding it up. It had a wing on either side that started next to the cockpit and went to the middle of the aircraft. On each wing, there was a huge engine. At the back of the aircraft, there were tail fins on either side. Underneath the body of the aircraft, a ramp extended to the ground. The entire body of the B478 had reflective panels on it, making it so that the aircraft could camouflage itself. Around the B478s, workers were loading the equipment onto the aircraft.

Commander Dunn looks around one last time, checking to make sure everyone and everything is ready. "Alright men, let's move out" Dunn says as he starts walking towards the B478s. Everyone moves to follow Dunn to the B478s and load up.

***With The Pilots***

"Control, this is B478-59, B478-73, and B478-44 requesting clearance for take-off" the pilot of B478-59 says. "This is Control, you are clear for take-off B478-59, B478-73, and B478-44" the Control Tower says. "Roger that Control" the pilot replies. The pilot clicks a button and announces that they are taking off.

***With Commander Dunn***

"Alright men, we should be at the location in about two hours. Get some rest because I've got a feeling that this is going to be a long day."

***Two Hours Later***

***With The Pilots***

They had been flying for two hours. Two long hours. As they piloted the B478s through the foggy mountains, the proximity alerts started going off. As the pilots looked around to see what was causing these alerts, they started noticing structures.

Suddenly, the doorway that led to where the rest of the troops were opened. Standing in the doorway was Commander Dunn. "What the hell is going on?" he asked the pilot of his B478. "Looks like we're here sir" the pilot replied. "Circle the area twice before landing so that we can get a good look of the area." Commander Dunn told the pilot. "Roger that sir." the pilot replied as he reached for the communicator to let the other pilots know the plan. As he was doing that, Commander Dunn went back to let his men know that they would be landing soon.

***Outside After Landing***

Everyone looked in awe upon the massive temple in front of them. It was fiery red and gold, with a large entrance at the base of it. At each of the six corners of the temple, there was a large statue of what appeared to be some type of bird. On each statue there was an elemental symbol. At the very top sat a large multi colored orb.

"Alright, let's head inside to find the weapon." Matthew said as he looked at the men. "You three need to stay inside the B478s," Matthew said as he at the pilots, "and be on guard because we have no idea what's out here."

As the pilots headed back onto their B478s, Matthew and the rest headed into the temple. As they got further in, it got darker. They eventually had to turn on their flashlights. After walking for about ten minutes, they came to a fork that split off it three directions. After deciding which squad would take which tunnel, they split up. After entering the tunnels, doors closed blocking their path back. Once they realized they couldn't open the doors, they reluctantly continued down their separate paths.

***With Sgt Summers' Team***

They had been walking for about thirty minutes when they started hearing noises. These noises didn't sound like they were being made by people though. Suddenly, their flashlights started flickering, and all of a sudden, they hear one of the men in the squad start screaming. It was a deathly scream. Everyone turn around just in time to see the man fall forwards onto his stomach before flying off back down the tunnel, all the while screaming. Summers and the rest took off after him. They continued running down the tunnel until they came across a site that made them want to hurl. The man, or at least what was left of him. Laying on the floor of the tunnel is a bloody arm, a bloody helmet, and what appeared to be the man's guts. The whole floor around the scene was covered in blood. One man took off around the corner to go throw up.

"Shit" Summers said as she looked at the gruesome site. "Matthew, this is Taylor. Do you copy?" she spoke into her comms. For a minute, there was only static. Finally, she heard Matthew's voice on the comms. "Yeah, I copy. What's up?" Matthew replied casually. 'Good' thought Taylor, 'looks like he hasn't encountered anything.' "Listen, something is down here with us. It killed one of my men." Taylor said. "That's not good. I'll try and get in contact with Gabe." Matthew replied. "And Taylor, you stay safe. You hear me?" Matthew said. "Heh. Yeah I here you." Taylor replied.

Taylor looked around before noticing that another one of her men was gone. After questioning the rest of her troops, she found out that the man had gone to throw up. Taylor sighed in relief. After saying some words for the dead squad member, her and the rest moved out to go find the guy that took off to throw up. After walking about five minutes, what they found wasn't pretty. The man that had gone to throw up was dead. He was laying again the wall in a pool of blood. His throat had been ripped out. After seeing that, Taylor and the rest of her team took off down the tunnel, hoping that they could find an exit before they were all killed.

***With Captain Butchers' Team***

Gabe and his team all walking down the tunnel when he hears his communicator go off. "Gabe, are you there?" It was Matthew's voice. "Yeah I'm here," Gabe replied. "Listen Gabe, be careful. Apparently, there's something down here with us." Matthew said. "It already got one of Taylor's men." "Are you serious?" Gabe asked in shock. "Yeah I am." Matthew replied. "Stay alert Gabe. We have no idea what we're up against." Matthew said.

As soon as he ended the conversation, Gabe heard one of his men cry out. Gabe and the rest of his men took off to see what had happened. They came across the man throwing up. When asked what happened, the man just pointed to the bloody remains of something lying in the middle of the tunnel. Gabe noticed something shiny in the remains. Slowly, he reached down and picked it up. I.D. tags. Gabe instantly recognized the name on the tags. It was one of Taylor's men.

"Well I guess we know what happened to the guy in Taylor's squad that got taken." Gabe said. "Sir, I thought this place was supposed to be abandoned," one of his men said. "It is." Gabe said. "Then what the hell did this?" another squad member asked. "I don't know but stay alert." Gabe said.

As soon as Gabe said that, they all heard a terrifying sound. It sounded like two rusty pieces of metal being scrubbed together. They all took out their weapons, which were W-237s. Each W-237 was black. They had a bulky frame with a stock and a long barrel. On top of each weapon was a scope with night vision capabilities.

After a while of walking down the tunnel, the team entered a large chamber. It was obvious that time had taken a toll on the chamber. Ceiling supports had fallen to the floor. Columns had collapsed. There were plants growing out of the floor and walls. At the other end of the chamber, there was some sort of alter.

After looking around, the team started making its way to the other end of the chamber. Once they were about half way across, something grabbed one of the men and took off. They took defensive positions at the fallen ceiling supports and columns. All the while, they could hear the screams of the man coming from the tunnel. They were frantically looking around using the scopes on the W-237s, trying to see what it was that was attacking them. A minute later, another man went flying across the room and hit the wall, instantly killing him. Then another man screamed and started firing. The flashes from his weapon firing allowed them to see some strange animal right before it sliced the man's head off with its razor-sharp claws. Soon the creature, whatever it was, had picked them off one by one until Gabe and two others were the only ones left. In a desperate attempt to escape, Gabe set off one of the charges they had brought along. The explosion threw the creature away and blew a hole in the wall of the chamber, revealing an entrance to another tunnel. Gabe and the last two members of his squad set off another charge, successfully sealing the hole.

***With Commander Dunn's Team***

Commander Dunn and his team were calmly walking down their tunnel when the temple started to shake, and they began hearing explosions. Worried about Gabe and his squad, Matthew got in touch with Gabe to find out what happened. After hearing the news about Gabe's squad, Matthew decided that it would be best for everyone if they met up. After he finished talking to Gabe, Matthew got in touch with Taylor to inform her of the news and let her know about meeting back up. After he finished talking to Taylor, Matthew and his squad moved out to the set rally point, which was a large chamber-like room ahead of them. They all had their W-237s out in case they ran into the creature that attacked Gabe's squad.

***Half A Hour Later***

After half an hour, all three squads made it to the large chamber. Taylor's squad had lost three men on the way there. As the three squads made their way to the middle of the room, the floor gave way and collapsed. Everyone fell into a chamber like the one they were just in. After regaining their bearing, they were distraught to find five more men were killed in the fall. That left Matthew, Gabe, Taylor, and seven men. After paying their respects and scavenging any supplies they could, the ten of them headed off to the only tunnel leading out of the chamber.

As they made their way down the tunnel, the device they had originally brought to detect the weapon started going off. As they continued down the tunnel, they noticed a light coming from up ahead. The light was coming from a room at the end of the tunnel. They entered the room and found a box sitting in the middle of it. The box was fascinating looking. It was a fiery gold with the symbols of the elements that had been on the statues outside. Each elemental symbol glowed with the color that matched the element. The symbols were fire, ice, light, shadow, lightning, and water.

Commander Dunn told the last seven of their troops to head find their way back out and get the pilots to bring reinforcements. As they left, Matthew, Taylor, and Gabe set up defenses at the entrance to the room. Matthew was extremely curious about the box. 'This can't be the so-called weapon we're supposed to be retrieving,' Matthew thought. "Well Matthew, you were right" Taylor said. "Oh? About what?" Matthew asked, confused as to what he was right about. "This is turning out to be a long day." Taylor said as she looked over at him. They continued setting up defenses, knowing that those creatures were still out there.


	3. That Backstabbing Bastard

Hey what's up everyone!

We are back with another chapter of Callsign: Phoenix!

So sorry about the wait. I got a virus which wiped my computer and made me restart the chapter.

I would like to thank PraetorFable for all his help and support. You guys should go check him out!

And with that, enjoy the story!

***With The Rest Of The Men***

The seven men had been walking for some time. They were in a somewhat wide tunnel that was slightly damp. The tunnel's walls had moss and other plant life growing in different patches. The air was dry and there was a warm breeze blowing through the tunnel. There had been some jumps here and there, but it was always nothing. After a while, they began to let their guards down. That's when all hell broke loose. The trooper at the back went flying back down the tunnel, not even a scream to be heard. The only sign that he had been there was his helmet rolling to a stop on the floor of the tunnel. At that sight, the rest began to pick up the pace.

Now sprinting down the tunnel, the troops could only hope to make it out alive. When they finally stopped, they took defensive positions on both sides. Two men guarding the front and two guarding the rear. The last two were in the middle trying to get in contact with Commander Dunn. What they failed to notice was that one of the troopers trying to contact their commander was standing under a large, gaping hole in the ceiling. The trooper beside him was looking around when he suddenly heard a loud, sudden snap next to him. The trooper quickly turned around to the sight of another trooper being pulled up into the hole in the ceiling. The trooper lifted his rifle and started firing up into the hole. Immediately, the mangled corpse of the dead trooper fell back out of the hole and landed on the floor of the tunnel in a crumpled heap of skin and bones. Despite the loss of their fellow troopers, the survivors pushed on, hastily making their way down the tunnel. But within the hour, two more of them were dead. One had a claw get stabbed straight through his ribcage, leaving him gasping for breath as he died. The next trooper was killed when he was sent flying by one of the beasts and hit the tunnel wall, instantly painting it red with his blood.

As the last three troopers ran down the tunnel, they noticed a light at the end. They had finally made it out. As they took their first steps outside, they were horrified by what awaiting them. Two of the ships were destroyed, with the remains ablaze. The remains of both ships crew were splattered across the ground, without a single surviving soul in sight. It was obvious that the creatures in the temple had done this. One of the troopers tried his commlink, attempting to get through to headquarters. When someone finally answered, the trooper was filled with horror. After they had left, the creatures had attacked their headquarters. It turns out the creatures weren't just in the temple but were instead across the whole planet. Almost everyone who had been at the base had either been killed or had left the base in the hope that they would survive on the surface. The ones that weren't killed had regrouped and retaken the base. After which he told the trooper that reinforcements would be sent to the temple. The person who had answered was a trooper who had gone rogue a couple years ago. This trooper's name was Aiden Mahner.

***With Aiden***

Aiden was a light skinned young man in his early twenties who was lean and had a slight muscular build. He had no scars and looked as if he had never seen combat. His auburn hair and blueish-green eyes stood out against his white armor. His armor had a few scuffs here and there, but overall looked fairly new. His helmet, which sat on the table, had a green visor and two green dashes on each side of the nose.

As he set the commlink down, he pondered something. 'What is some no name commander doing way out here?' The door behind Aiden suddenly opened and a man quickly walked in. The man was wearing armor similar to Aiden's except his was dark gray in color. The armor clearly was older and had seen its share of combat. On the man's back, there was a black staff with rubies on each end. On the man's side, there was a simple laser pistol.

Aiden turned to the man and said, "Captain Craig! The base has been cleared out. We also have the location of the temple."

Captain Craig nodded his head in approval. "Good," he said, "Order the men to get ready to move out."

Aiden nodded and watched as Craig left. Before Aiden left the room, he looked around one last time. The room was fairly clean, except for the bodies of the troops that were executed. He sighed as he exited.

***Back Outside The Temple***

After the trooper got off the commlink, the other two looked at him with interest, wanting to know what happened. He told the two what had apparently happened to the base. After explaining to them what he was told, they began to gather any materials they could use to build some barricades. While setting up, one of the troopers looked up and noticed something. While they had been in the temple, a fog bank had rolled in over the mountains. After setting up the barricades, they gathered whatever weapons they could to defend against the creatures until the reinforcements arrived. As soon as they finished, several of the creatures came out of the entrance of the temple. Standing in the light, the creatures were unlike anything the troopers had ever seen.

The creatures were tall and covered in thick black fur. Their faces resembled that of a wolf's, with blood red eyes which seemed to glow. Their backs were lined with sharp red spikes. Finally, they had razor-sharp claws on their front and back legs.

The troopers were terrified to say the least. As the creatures moved closer, the troopers opened fire. The creatures swarmed out of the temple and began circling around the troopers. The creatures started to attack from all different directions, slowly making their way closer to the troopers. The fight went on for another hour before the troopers were finally overrun. As the last trooper was about to be killed, he looked up and noticed something in the fog. Several B478s come flying over the mountain stunning both him and the creatures. The B478s looked to be equipped with rockets and gatling guns. Once in range, the B478s opened fire on the creatures. After the creatures were cleared out, the B478s all landed in a circle around the trooper. As troops started coming out of the B478s, all the surviving trooper could feel was relief. As the trooper was finally able to get a good look at the other troops, he noticed something. None of these troops were from the base. Before the trooper could say anything, one last B478 came over the mountain and landed. The trooper saw a few more troops step off before two men quickly followed and headed towards him.

When the two men finally arrived, the trooper said, "I don't understand. Who are you people?" The man in the dark grey armor said, "My name is Craig." As soon as the trooper heard the man's name, he tried to run away. But it was too late. As soon as the trooper turned to run, Craig pulled the staff off his back hit the trooper square in the back. The trooper fell to the ground. Craig walked over to the trooper and put the end of his staff against the trooper's back, keeping the trooper pinned to the ground. Craig then pulled out his pistol off of his waist and shot him. Aiden, who had been standing beside Craig, was shocked to say the least. As Craig turned to head towards the temple, he simply said, "No witnesses."

***With Commander Dunn***

It had been a few hours since the remainder of his men had left to go get reinforcements. Matthew and the others had finished setting up their defenses and traps a little while ago. Now, all they had left to do was wait for the creatures to show up and attack. During this time, Matthew decided to take a closer inspection of the room. Along the walls were covered in writings and hieroglyphs. As Matthew inspected the walls, he said, "Taylor, come over here." As Taylor walked up to him, she said, "What's up?" Matthew motioned to the wall in front of him and Taylor turned to look at it. She noticed the writings and hieroglyphs and immediately became interested. Taylor started to translate everything on the walls.

After about half a hour, Matthew asked, "Find anything interesting?"

Taylor looked at him before standing up. "From what I can tell, this is basically the history of the planet and this temple" she said. "But what's odd is how many times it mentions phoenixes." Taylor said with a puzzled look.

"Phoenixes?" Matthew asked.

"Yes, phoenixes" Taylor replied.

Matthew stood there contemplating for a moment before saying, "Phoenixes? Like the mythical bird that catches on fire and dies, then comes back to life?"

"Not exactly."

Matthew gave her a puzzled look.

"Well according to this, while phoenixes can come back to life, there are different elemental phoenixes. Also," she continued, "apparently phoenixes were worshipped as gods here."

"Wait, wait, wait," Matthew asked, bewildered, "So phoenixes are real?"

"Apparently" Taylor said.

While Taylor and Matthew were talking, Gabe was keeping watch. As he was watching the tunnel, he noticed several glowing blood red eyes start to appear. "Um, guys," Gabe said, "it looks like we've got company." Matthew and Taylor quickly moved over to Gabe to see what he was talking about. When they saw the glowing eyes, they started taking up their defensive positions. Gabe and Taylor were on each side of the tunnel while Matthew stood in the middle. As they finished getting into position, the creatures started pouring down the tunnel towards them. All three opened fire on the creatures. The gunfire did not cease for half a hour until one of the creatures finally managed to make it to Gabe. The creature grabbed Gabe's shoulder with its mouth with a crunch and pulled him back down the tunnel. As Gabe was dragged, he kept trying to shoot the creature holding him, all the while screaming out in pain. Each time he shot, the tunnel would light up just a little. This let Matthew and Taylor finally see what the creatures looked like. After the sounds of Gabe's shots stopped, there was a blood curdling scream.

Matthew and Taylor continued to fight until the creatures finally retreated back down the tunnel. Afterwards, they both slumped down against the wall mourning Gabe's death. Before either of them knew what was happening, one last creature came running down the tunnel and lunged at Matthew. This caused Matthew to fly back across the room and hit a box. Taylor opened fire on the creature and killed it. She then ran over to Matthew to see if he was injured. Matthew had three huge cuts across his chest piece. Taylor was relieved at first until she noticed the blood that had started to pool around him. Taylor realized that the cuts had gone all the way through Matthew's armor. In a panic, Taylor moved the box out of the way, so she could try to stop the bleeding.

As soon as Taylor moved the box, a loud screeching could be heard throughout the temple. It sounded as if it came from some kind of bird. Once the screeching stopped, a beam of light burst from where the box had been and went through Matthew. Taylor to jumped back in surprise, lifting her gun. After a moment, the beam of light stopped. Terrified of what just happened, Taylor ran back over to Matthew and pulled him away. Still needing to close his wounds, she removed Matthew's chest piece only to find that his wounds were healed. Where the beam went through Matthew, there was now a phoenix shaped mark. Taylor wasn't sure what to think. After a moment, Matthew groaned and opened his eyes and looked around confusedly. Suddenly he remembered what happened. That creature had gotten him good. He should be dead right now. lowly looking over at Taylor, he asked her one question, hoping she knew the answer.

"How am I alive?"

***With Craig and Aiden***

After Craig executed the trooper, he and Aiden lead his men into the temple. They continued walking until they came to a fork in the tunnel. The tunnel split into three different directions, with each looking identical. Craig split his men up, having a third of them go down each tunnel. Craig and Aiden went down the middle tunnel with their group. They ran into a few of the creatures every now and then, with a couple men being taken each time. At the order of Craig, they never gave chase and kept going. It had been about a hour since they entered the temple when suddenly they heard the loud screech. While all the men were confused as to what the sound was, Craig knew exactly what was happening. The weapon had been discovered. After ordering all his men to pick up the pace, Craig lead them to what was left of the main chamber of the temple.

The whole time, Aiden had been thinking about all that had happened. This wasn't what Craig had told him when he had joined him two years ago. Craig had told him that he was a peaceful man and everything he did was in the name of peace. 'Peace my ass' Aiden thought. After joining, Aiden made sure he kept a close eye on everything that was happening. He soon found out that he had lied. Aiden witnessed the destruction of cities and the slaughter of people at the hands of Craig. But Craig would always come up with some excuse for his actions, in the attempt to make them seem justified. But after Aiden had watched Craig's troops slaughter the men at the base and then execute the trooper outside the temple, he knew something had to be done. It was then and there that Aiden decided he had to get rid of Craig and his men.

Aiden had the remote detonator for the explosives on the troops' belts. All he was waiting for was for Craig and all his men to get into the temple's main chamber. When Craig and the rest of his men finally made it to the main chamber, they all saw that the floor had collapsed. Craig looked down into the chamber below and noticed all the rubble.

"Aiden, what do you make of this?" Craig asked.

Aiden however was deep in thought, 'Shit… now what am I going to do?' Aiden was knocked out of his thoughts when Craig hit him.

"Answer the damn question" Craig hissed loudly.

Aiden looked over the rubble before saying, "It looks like this was caused by explosives." Aiden started,, "It was probably the men from the base."

"Well no shit" Craig said.

"How are we going to get down sir?" One of the troops questioned.

"Aiden," Craig said, "Take four men with you back to the ships and get the ropes."

"Yes sir!" Aiden replied with a short nod of his head. 'This is my chance to detonate the explosives'. As he and the four men walked back down the tunnel, Aiden paused. "Oh, by the way Craig," Aiden said as he held up the detonator for Craig to see, "Go to Hell." When Craig saw this, he was infuriated.

"You backstabbing bastard!" Craig yelled. But right before Aiden could press the button to detonate the explosives, one of the men with him knocked him out.

When Aiden came to, he was kneeling in front of Craig on the edge of the chamber. "Well, well, well, look who's finally awake," Craig said while staring at Aiden.

"You almost got me Aiden," Craig spoke. "I can't believe you would stab me in the back after I welcomed you with open arms when you joined," Craig finished as he shook his head.

Aiden lunged at Craig hoping to at least manage to kill him. Two of Craig's men quickly grabbed him and restrained him.

"I should execute you right now for being a traitor," Craig said with a smirk, "But execution is too good for you."

As he finished, Craig pulled out his pistol before pulling the trigger and shooting Aiden in the gut. But before Aiden could react, Craig kicked him in the chest, making him fall backwards into the chamber below. With one last chuckle, Craig threw a flare down into the chamber, allowing Aiden to see that he was surrounded by the creatures.

"Have fun being their chew toy!" Craig yelled down to Aiden before disappearing back into the tunnel with his men. Using the creatures' confusion to his advantage, Aiden got up as fast as he could and desperately looked around for any possible exit. He quickly noticed that there seemed to only be a single tunnel that led out of the chamber and rushed in an attempt to make his way out.

***With Matthew and Taylor***

"How am I alive?" Matthew questioned, staring at Taylor.. "I, I don't know" was all Taylor could say. After a few minutes, Taylor pulled herself together and told Matthew what had happened. Matthew was stunned to say the least. "I should be dead," Matthew muttered as he sat against the wall. All of a sudden, they heard voices coming from down the tunnel. Hoping it was reinforcements, they were surprised when a man they didn't recognize came into view. The man was moving slowly down the tunnel. He had one of his hands on his gut and the other one on the wall to keep himself from falling. But they quickly began to hear the creatures coming down the tunnel. So running as fast as he could, Matthew ran into the tunnel and grabbed the man. They had just made it back into the room when the creatures came into view. After setting the stranger against the wall, Matthew and Taylor opened fire on the creatures. In a stroke of luck, the creatures decided to retreat instead of pushing forward.

Taylor went over to the stranger and checked his wounds. As she was doing that, Matthew checked their ammo supply. "We need to get out of here," Taylor said. "I can stop the bleeding, but he needs an actual doctor." Taylor finished as she turned to Matthew. "I agree" Matthew said. "We don't have much ammo left." After Taylor stopped the bleeding, she and Matthew carried the stranger down the tunnel that their men had taken when they left to get help. After about a hour of walking, the stranger regained consciousness. "What happened? Who are you?" he asked Matthew and Taylor. They sat the stranger down and told him who they were and what had happened to him. After they finished, he introduced himself as Aiden and told them about Craig and everything that had happened.

"I see…" said Matthew, "so Craig is here for the weapon that's supposed to be here." "What's the plan Matthew?" Taylor asked. "Well I'd say the best plan of action is for us to make our way out of the temple and then steal one of their ships" Matthew replied. "What about Craig?" Aiden asked. "We're in no condition to fight him and his men" Matthew finished. Taylor nodded her head in agreement.

After that, the trio made their way through the tunnels and out of the temple. Once they were outside, they came up with a plan. They decided to take the ship Craig and Aiden arrived in and use their remaining ammo and explosives to destroy the other ships. As they were setting the explosives, Craig and his troops made their way out of the temple. As Craig's troops spotted them, they began to open fire. In a last-ditch effort, Matthew decided to go ahead and detonate the explosives. The blast could be heard for miles. This caused a panic as all the creatures from within the temple came out and start attacking Craig's troops. Doing their best to ignore the chaos, they ran inside of remaining ship and began to prepare for launch. Right before takeoff, Aiden stood at the bottom of the boarding ramp and yelled at Craig. As Craig turned towards him, Aiden held up the detonator for the explosives Craig's troops were carrying.

Noticing the detonator in Aiden's hand, Craig was shocked. 'There's no way he can have it' Craig thought. 'It's right here on my belt' Craig thought as he touched his belt where the detonator was supposed to be. The only problem was that the detonator wasn't there. 'How? When did he take it?' Craig thought. As he thought back, he realized Aiden must have taken it when he lunged at him. 'That bastard!' Craig was snapped out of his thoughts when he heard Aiden yell, "Hey Craig!" This caused Craig to turn back to Aiden. As Aiden stood there with the detonator, Craig realized what was about to happen. Craig quickly starting yelling for his troops to get rid of their explosives. It was too late though, as Aiden detonated the explosives without a second thought.

Some of Craig's troops got lucky and died in the explosions. The unlucky ones got dragged away by the creatures kicking and screaming. Craig just stood there, watching it all happen. The chaos and horror of it all was too much. Right as Craig turned to run, he looked up at Aiden and knew he was doomed. In Aiden's hands was a W-237. Aiden yelled, "Hey Craig! Fuck you!" After which he shot Craig in the leg, destroying any chance he had of escaping. Craig fell to the ground and watched the ship fly off. Hearing the growls of the creatures behind him, Craig turned over to see he was surrounded. Craig tried to pull out his pistol and take the easy way out, but before he could, the creatures dragged him back into the temple.

***With Matthew, Taylor, and Aiden***

Everyone sighed a sigh of relief. They had escaped. They were alive. "So, what's next?" Aiden asked, slumping in one of the empty seats. "Well, I was thinking of stopping at the base" Matthew said. "What? Why?" Aiden questioned. "To get you patched up and see if there were any survivors" Taylor said. "Sounds good to me, then." Aiden responded, delicately trying to straighten the bandages wrapped around his wound. As they flew towards the base, Taylor patched up Aiden's less serious wounds so that he could at least walk.

When they landed at the base, they got out and split up. Aiden stayed in the hanger and refueled the ship. Matthew headed to the armory and supply room to get food and weapons. Taylor headed to the med bay to get medical supplies. What none of them knew was that Craig had his men set explosives in case anybody at the base survived their onslaught. After a while, Matthew came back with plenty of food and weapons. But while Matthew and Aiden were waiting for Taylor to get back, there was a huge explosion. They raced to where they assumed the source of the explosion came from. Once they got there, they searched around and finally found Taylor. She was against a wall with a metal pole through her chest.

"Taylor!" Matthew yelled as he ran over to her. Taylor slowly opened her eyes. "Don't worry," Matthew said as he cradled her in his arms. "We're going to get that thing out of you." Matthew said with tears in in eyes. Taylor looked up at him and placed her hand on his cheek. "Yeah, we'll make you good as new." Matthew said desperately, looking for anything that can help him remove the pole. "We can travel the universe together like we always said we would, and we'll have all these great adventures."


	4. A Funeral and A Secret

**Hey what's up everyone!**

 **Welcome back to another chapter of** _ **Callsign: Phoenix**_ **.**

 **This chapter wasn't originally going to be written. But after doing some editing with Praetor, I decided to split the last chapter up some and add some stuff.**

 **Also, thoughts will now be in italics.**

 **As always, I'm open to any thoughts or ideas.**

 **That's about it. So enjoy the chapter!**

"Remember when we first met?" Taylor asked.

"Yeah," Matthew said tears shining in his eyes.

As they sat there, Matthew's mind couldn't help but wander back to all of their adventures together.

***Flashback***

***The Booyago Academy***

It was four years before the incident on Hoyt. The newest batch of troops for the Corven military had just graduated and were celebrating; all except one. This one trooper was standing alone in the corner of the room, leaning against the wall. This trooper's name was Matthew Dunn.

Back then, Matthew was a tall, young man with a muscular build. His hair is jet black, standing out against his light skin. His eyes are a hazy brown and have a hint of sadness to them. He is wearing a white graduate uniform with three red stripes going down his right sleeve, signifying him being part of the top ten in the graduates.

Matthew was standing there watching everyone celebrate. _How can everyone be so happy?_ he wondered. _After this, we'll be shipped off to go fight. A lot of the people here probably won't even be alive in a month_.

Watching Matthew from the crowd, Taylor Summers tugged on the end of her uniform sleeve nervously. She had liked Matthew for a while now but had always been afraid to tell him. But after realizing that they'll be shipping out tomorrow, the weight of the situation hit her fully, and she decided that she would tell him while she has the chance. Gathering her courage, she begins to walk towards Matthew.

"You can do this Taylor," she muttered to herself. "You've made it through the hellish training and will soon be in combat. Something as simple as telling a guy you like him should be a piece of cake."

As Matthew continued looking around the room, he noticed a girl walking over to him. She was a tall, young woman with a slightly muscular build. Her light skin makes her raven hair and dark green eyes stand out. She was very attractive in Matthew's opinion. As she continued to make her way over, she snatched a drink from one of the waiters walking around.

As Taylor got closer to Matthew, her mind wandered as she tried to think of something to say. This caused Taylor to miss the person walking in front of her. And before she could react, she ran into them, making her trip and spill her drink all over Matthew.

The sound of Taylor and the cup hitting the group and the person Taylor ran into yelling draws a crowd. Taylor is embarrassed to say the least. She keeps her eyes locked on the ground, afraid to look at anyone. _That's it,_ she thinks, _I'm done for._ She looks up when she hears someone chuckling. It was Matthew. _Oh jeez, he probably thinks I'm a loser now._ She was expecting him to laugh at her more but was surprised when he offered her a hand.

"Oh jeez, I'm so sorry!" Taylor finally spoke, grabbing onto his hand and letting him pull her up. She quickly grabbed a napkin small towel form a nearby table and tried to dry him off. "It's fine," Matthew chuckled again. "It was about time we had some excitement around here."

Matthew's comment made Taylor smile. _Oh great,_ she thought. _I can't tell him how I feel after that._

"Hey, do you want to go somewhere a little less noisy and hang out?" Matthew asked.

"I would love to." Taylor replied.

After Matthew got dried off, he and Taylor left the celebration and went outside to the airpads. Once they were there, they laid down and to at the stars while they talked. They sat there for a few hours, just talking and laughing and getting to know each other. The entire time they were talking, Taylor was so happy. She may not have gotten to tell Matthew how she feels, but she wouldn't trade this time with him for the world.

After a while, Taylor asked Matthew why he decided to join the Corven military. "It's because my parents were killed during the rebel uprising on Toranso." Matthew said. "Hopefully I can help keep that from happening to anyone else."

"Matthew…" Taylor said. She knew everyone had their reasons for joining, but with the way he acted, she would never have imagined that.

"How about you?" Matthew asked.

"I don't know honestly," she said. "I've just always felt a calling for this."

They sat there in silence for a few minutes before Matthew stood up.

"Hey," Matthew said, making Taylor look up at him. "I've got some pull around here. You want to be in a squad together?" Matthew said while grinning.

"You'd want to be in a squad with me?" Taylor asked.

Matthew just laughed. "Yeah. I've got a feeling we'd have some great adventures."

Taylor blushed, which went unnoticed by Matthew. "Yeah. That sounds like it'll be fun!"

***Flashback End***

"I remember how embarrassed you were." Matthew said while chuckling.

"Yeah," Taylor choked out, "That was pretty embarrassing."

Matthew looked her in the eyes. "Let's get you better. We still have a lot of adventures to go on." he said with a sad smile.

Taylor just looked him in the eyes and replied, "Sorry... but my journey ends here... We had a great run, though. Now go have some adventures of your own." With the last of her strength, Taylor leaned up and whispered in Matthew's ear, "I love you." With those final words, Matthew felt her body go limp and saw the life in her eyes fade. He couldn't hold back the tears any more.

Aiden just stood there, watching the two have their moment. He hadn't known the two very long. So why was he feeling so guilty?

***A Few Hours Later***

After Taylor had passed, Matthew removed the pole from her chest and buried her outside the base. Matthew found some flowers inside and placed them around Taylor's grave. He then took a piece of metal and made a tombstone. Matthew sat next to Taylor's grave for a few hours, thinking back on the times they had spent together.

***Flashback***

It was three years before the incident on Hoyt. Matthew and Taylor made a promise to each other at the graduation party. The promise was that they would always stay together. In the one year since they had graduated from the academy, Matthew had been promoted to the rank of Lieutenant while Taylor had only reached the rank of Sergeant. The day after receiving their ranks, they were given orders to head to the planet Chimi. Once there, they were supposed to help the local government stop an uprising.

During the three weeks it took to get from HQ on the planet Forensla to Chimi, Matthew and Taylor spent most of their time together. They had become the best of friends.

***In The Training Room***

One morning, Matthew and Taylor were battling it out. Both were wearing their standard black training gear. Taylor was using a sword with a black blade and a crimson hilt. Matthew on the other hand was wielding a pair of black daggers. They had several of their men watching them. To an outsider, it would look like Matthew and Taylor were trying to kill each other with how hard they were fighting. But to all the troops watching, they could tell that they were just having fun from the smiles on their faces.

As Taylor brought her sword down towards Matthew's shoulder, Matthew dodged to the right and gave her two quick cuts on her leg. Taylor immediately lunged backwards allowing her to get a nice slash in on Matthew's arm. Matthew looked at his arm for a moment before smirking. He ran towards Taylor, and in a swift motion, gave her a cut along her side. They continued to battle for another hour before Matthew fell backwards. When he looked up, Taylor had the tip of her blade against his neck. "Heh, I give." Matthew said, smiling. Taylor smiled back and helped him up. She was clearly happy about her win against him.

As they went to exit the training room, Taylor stopped and looked at Matthew. Looking at her, Matthew asked, "What's up?"

"You let me win, didn't you?" she asked with an irked look.

"I don't know what you're talking about." Matthew said as he feigned confusion.

"You did! I knew that win was too good to be true!" Taylor said as she glared at him.

Matthew chuckled before asking, "What gave me away?"

"I heard some of the troops talking about how easily you went down."

"Oh well, I guess I can't deny it then." Matthew said with a chuckle.

"Stop doing that! How am I supposed to get better if you always let me win?!" Taylor asked, clearly irritated.

"Fine, fine, I'll stop letting you win." Matthew said.

Taylor then tripped Matthew. "Ha! I won that time!" she exclaimed.

Matthew looked up at her before saying, "That wasn't fair. I wasn't ready."

"The enemy won't care." Taylor reminded him with a laugh. "Oh well," she said, "I can still kick your ass when it comes to shooting."

"Are you sure about that?" Matthew asked with a cocky look.

Taylor stopped and looked at him. "No! You have not been letting me win at shooting! I am better!" Taylor said furiously.

"Whatever helps you sleep at night." Matthew said with a snicker before reaching over and squeezing Taylor's side. This elicited a yelp from Taylor as she gave him a dirty look. Matthew couldn't help but chuckle.

***Flashback End***

 _Those were the days…_ Matthew thought as he looked at Taylor's grave. He wished he could go back in time so that he could relive those moments. Matthew thought back to their time in the temple, waiting for backup. About all the different conversations they had had over the years. Conversations where they would talk about pretty much anything, it didn't matter what. He thought about the nights when they were on missions and they'd stop and just look up at the stars. He thought about all the time they spent together. How could he not have noticed her feelings? How could he not have noticed how beautiful and amazing she was? How could he not realize the feelings he had for her? He was one of the best and brightest in the military. He had been the reason that they had won so many battles. The reason so many new discoveries had been made. The reason that they were where they were today. Yet he failed to notice the feelings of the person he spent almost every day with. He was such an idiot.

After several hours, Matthew finally left her grave and went back inside the base. Aiden walked up to Taylor's grave. He felt so guilty. He had worked by Craig's side for a while. He should have seen something like this coming. As he looked over her grave, he noticed something over the tombstone that Matthew had made.

Here lies Taylor Summers.

A good soldier.

A better person.

And a best friend.

See you on the other side.

After seeing that, Aiden just broke down into tears. He felt responsible for her death. Unable to hold the tears back, Aiden just sat there crying. But after a while, Aiden managed to pull himself

together. He then went back into the base to find Matthew.

Neither Matthew nor Aiden got much sleep that night. The next day, Matthew and Aiden scoured the base disarming all of the explosives. After that, they spent the next week burying the bodies of the troops from the base. Once they finished, they gathered any remaining supplies they needed and loaded them onto the ship. And after one final recheck to make sure was working properly, they left the planet.

***In Space***

Taylor's death was really hard on Matthew. Not knowing what to do, Matthew and Aiden drifted through space for a little while. After about two weeks of drifting through space, Aiden went and talked to Matthew about how he was feeling. "Matthew." Aiden said. Matthew just looked up at Aiden, gaze empty. It was clear that he didn't feel like talking, so seeing that Matthew wasn't going to say anything, Aiden continued.

"How do you think it would make Taylor feel to see you like this?" Aiden asked. Matthew still said nothing.

"I know you blame yourself Matthew." Aiden said. "But it wasn't your fault. It was Craig's."

"I should have been able to do something." Matthew finally said. "But I was too weak. I couldn't save my best friend." As Matthew turned to look at him fully, Aiden could make out the tears running down his face.

"Matthew, there was nothing you could have done." Aiden said with a sad look on his face. "I should have known about those explosives. If I had thought about it, she might still be alive."

Matthew put his hand on Aiden's shoulder before saying, "I don't blame you. You were wounded." Matthew continued on by saying, "If I had been in your shoes, I wouldn't have thought about it either."

"Taylor wouldn't have wanted you to mope around." Aiden said with a small smile. "She would want you to go make new friends and have amazing adventures."

Matthew looked up at Aiden with a small smile before saying, "Well then I guess I don't have a choice." Matthew stood up and went to the controls. "So Aiden," Matthew said as he looked over his shoulder, "You want to go on an adventure?"

***Forensla***

Matthew and Aiden finally reached the outskirts of Forensla. As they got closer to the planet, they could start to see the lights of the major cities. It was so beautiful. Once they were in range, Matthew contacted HQ to request permission to land at the orbital docking station. As Matthew mentioned it, Aiden noticed the station ahead of them. The station was light gray and had a hexical shape to it. There were several docking platforms around it. There were several ships of different sizes docked at the station. Some platforms had large bulky looking ships that looked to be used for battle, while other platforms had smaller, sleeker looking ships that looked to be used for scouting. Underneath the station, Aiden could see what looked to be a sky elevator connecting the station to HQ on the ground.

After receiving permission to dock, Matthew docked the ship and lead Aiden to the space elevator. On the way, Aiden noticed all the different people on the station. He was surprised at how few guards there were on board and asked Matthew about it. Matthew told him that since Forensla was the home of the Corven military HQ, no one would dare attack it, which is why there were so few guards. _Man…_ Aiden thought, _a lot has changed since I've been gone._

Once they reached the surface, Matthew and Aiden were greeted by two guards. The guards informed Matthew that he and Taylor were to report to General Hoff's quarters for debriefing. With a frown, Matthew then explained that Taylor wasn't with him and said he was going to bring Aiden. As they reached the general's quarters, they went in. In front of them was a older gentleman in a blue officer's uniform. The uniform was decorated with metals. The man had one pale blue eye while the other was missing. His hair was brown with streaks of gray in it. His face was decorated with scars from his time in the military.

Once Matthew and Aiden were in the room, they saluted the man who then waved for them to sit down. The general was confused to see that Taylor was not there. The general looked at Matthew and asked to be briefed on what happened on Hoyt. Once Matthew gave his report, the general was shocked. Hoff had been one of the people that trained Matthew and Taylor's group while they were at the academy. He had helped them further their training after the academy and had grown close to both of them.

"Matthew, I'm sorry for your loss." Hoff said with a sad look on his face. "I know how close you two were."

"Thank you," Matthew said. "I'm not sure if I'll ever get used to the fact that she's gone."

Hoff nodded his head sympathetically, giving Matthew one last sad glance before turning to Aiden. "Now on to you"

"Wait, Sir, let me explain." Matthew said, jumping up out of his chair. "Aiden isn't a bad guy. I know he went rogue but-" Matthew was cut off by Hoff laughing.

"So, I take it that you don't know the actual story then?" he asked Matthew.

"Actual story? What are you talking about?" Matthew asked in confusion, glancing at Aiden out of the corner of his eye.

"Aiden here never went rogue." Hoff said with a grin as he looked at Matthew.

"W-what?" Matthew asked.

"We knew about Craig and needed an inside man." Hoff explained. "So after looking over a list of possible candidates, we chose Aiden here to infiltrate Craig's organization."

"Originally we were just going to tell everyone, but after I brought up the fact that Craig might have spies within the Corven military, we created the story about me going rogue." Aiden explained.

"That... would make sense." Matthew with a slight nod, although he was still shocked at the news.

"Well turns out we were right." Aiden said as he looked at Matthew and Hoff. "The reason Craig allowed me in is because he had heard I had went rogue."

"Well then, Aiden, what do you want to do?" Hoff asked.

"Since we can't be sure that none of Craig's men escaped, there's a chance his organization knows of my betrayal." Aiden said.

"I see." Hoff said as he rubbed his chin. "Well then I guess we'll have to reinstate you and have you return to your original position."

"Actually Sir," Matthew said, "I was hoping to have Aiden join my new team."

Hoff looked at Matthew a moment before saying, "Well that's up to Aiden."

Aiden looked at Matthew before saying, "Why not?"

"Alright then." Hoff said. "I'm reinstating you as a Major." Aiden nodded.

"Oh, by the way Matthew." Aiden said while looking at Matthew, "What's the name of this new team?" Hoff looked to Matthew, also curious as to what the name would be.

"I don't know yet." Matthew said before turning to head off the the infirmary. "Come on Aiden. We need to get your wounds looked at."

As Matthew and Aiden headed to the infirmary, Matthew felt an odd sensation coming from the mark on his chest.


End file.
